TechAdventure DC

Take the cream of the DC social media/tech crop, put them on a Reston Limousine charter bus for a day in the country at an award-winning winery, and what do you get?

A unique epicurean experience that immersed about 60 members of the social/tech leadership of DC in sunshine, eight varieties of Rappahannock Cellars’ finest reds and whites, and fresh-from-local-farms fruits and artisan cheeses — all against the backdrop of the Blue Ridge Mountains and the melodic strains of Marie Miller and the Mark Brant Trio.

Touted as putting “the social back in social media,â€ TechAdventure DC started as a plan for five friends to drive up to Rappahannock Cellars and snowballed into an event brand that had tech titans such as AOL asking lead coordinator Justin Herman how to get involved and its Web site making the rounds on the Net and in magazines for innovative design.

The concept for the sold-out Aug. 29th trip — and future ones — is to “create unique, experience-based events that people don’t get in this bubble going to the regular happy hours,â€ Herman said en route from the Capitol pickup spot to the Huntly, Virginia winery.

“Human beings do best when they’re relaxed, they’re having a good time, and completely just taking down those barriers. (You’re) going to walk into a conversation, and you do what you do best. You hustle your startup, you make new friends.

“I promised them they’d fall in love today. It’s the only tech organization that guarantees you will fall in love, and I’m going to stick by that.â€

While it remains to be seen whether cupid struck that day, it was pretty clear that juices were flowing and synapses were sparking.